Hail in Little Sioux · May 17, 2026
Convective day · May 17, 2026 · noon–noon UTC
Severity
The 6th most severe storm Little Sioux has seen in the last 12 months
Overview's storm severity score weighs hailstone size, homes in the footprint, and ground-truth reports.
- Peak hail signal
- 0 /100
- Homes exposed
- 0 /100
- Ground truth
- 0 /100
Largest radar-indicated size — a signal of damage potential, not confirmation.
How many homes sit inside the storm's footprint.
Independent storm reports filed with the NWS.
Evidence / storm surfaces
How Little Sioux saw the hail — from two instruments
Each storm gets two readings: the radar signatures NEXRAD recorded as the cells passed overhead, and a modeled estimate of hail size in the air. They are independent surfaces, so a mismatch between them is expected — and worth reading.
Radar signature field The point detections NEXRAD recorded overhead. Each signature marks where the radar saw hail aloft — it is a detection, not a stone measured on the ground.
Estimated size field Radar-estimated hail size over the swath. The model reports the biggest stone the storm could sustain in the air; what actually fell may have been smaller.
The storm in context
Where May 17, 2026 sits in Little Sioux's hail record.
This was Little Sioux's 3rd recorded hail day, arriving 24 days after the Apr 23, 2026 storm. By severity it ranks 6th of the 6 storms we have logged here. Radar put the day's largest stone over Little Sioux at 0" — radar-estimated size aloft.
The May 17, 2026 convective day was bigger than Little Sioux: the same system put hail over 894 other tracked cities, 139 of them in Iowa. Nearest: Mondamin (7 miles south, up to 0"); Tekamah (9 miles southwest, up to 1"); Decatur (12 miles northwest, up to 0").
These maps are stills. In the app this date is one of 6 Little Sioux storm dates on a live map — both surfaces, the reports, and a replay — and the same map is where you draw the swath. This page rebuilds nightly.
Ground reports
What people on the ground reported
These are storm reports filed with the National Weather Service and released through the NOAA Storm Prediction Center — public-domain observations from spotters, the public, and NWS surveys. We quote each one exactly as filed.
For this storm over Little Sioux, the NWS report log is empty — a common outcome, since ground reports only happen when someone witnesses the hail and takes the time to call it in. The detection record for the date lives in the radar maps above.
Below the severe threshold
What 0" hail means for Little Sioux roofs.
Radar signals under three-quarters of an inch stay below the National Weather Service severe threshold and generally indicate lower roof risk. Older or already-worn materials can still show effects, but radar alone cannot determine whether a specific roof was damaged.
Radar reading · not confirmed damage
Little Sioux hail history
Other storms in Little Sioux.
Estimated-size surface Aug 11, 2026
0.5"
Estimated-size surface Jul 8, 2026
1"
Estimated-size surface Jul 1, 2026
0.75"
Estimated-size surface Apr 23, 2026
3"
Estimated-size surface Mar 5, 2026
0.5"The next storm won’t wait for you.
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